One Last Wish - 1986 (Vive la liberté!)

It's no secret I'm a Dischord Records enthousiast and fan. A couple of months ago I got two records of one of my all time favorite recordlabels: Jawbox's 'Novelty' and this peculiar LP by One Last Wish simply called '1986'. It was long overdue that I got that Jawbox record as it is a genuine classic that I already had on tape for a long time.

The One Last Wish record was a big surprise. I already knew some songs from the '20 years of Dischord' box set and the 'State of the union' compilation LP but besides that I didn't know a lot about the band. One Last Wish is kind of a post Rites Of Spring band featuring three former ROS members (Brendan Canty, Guy Picciotto, Eddy Janney) joined by Michael Hampton of Embrace.

One Last Wish was a very short lived band and the recordings they made for this record were released on vinyl in 2008, more than 20 years after the band recorded them. This is a lesser known band of most of these members. I mean, the Rites Of Spring and Embrace records are genuine classics and embodied a fresh air and a change of direction for the DC (and Dischord) hardcore scene during the infamous 'revolution summer' of 1985. Here's one of my favorite Rites Of Spring songs:

So this One Last Wish record might be a bit underrated and overlooked but I was completely blown away once I put the needle on this one for the first time. First song 'Hide' starts off with a very new wave and Joy Division influenced bass line and sets the pace for the rest of the record. Guy Picciotto is one of my all time favorite singers and songwriters and he sure delivers on this record. The songs still have this 'revolution summer' sound to them and you can definitely hear some traces of the bands the members were in before they started One Last Wish. But it's also a step away from them. A step forward. A step forward for the musicians but also once again a step forward for the entire Dischord and DC hardcore scene. Listening to this record also helped me understand how important Guy Picciotto later was to the sound of Fugazi. 

They only existed for 4 months and only played 6 shows but I am really glad they recorded these 12 songs. An essential Dischord record for sure! And a record that showcases a kind of scene and 

sound that was in full development in the mid to late eighties and continued all through the nineties. Get this! Listen to the full album here: